One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant black pepper is to refer to the USDA zone info for Riverdale.

Planting Calendar for Black pepper

Frost tolerance for black pepper:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's not a good idea to plant black pepper until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant black pepper in Riverdale is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant black pepper and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your black pepper may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your black pepper indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Riverdale. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Riverdale is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Riverdale you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your black pepper in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Riverdale

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Riverdale

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Riverdale.